Halloween
by starfishify
Summary: Jack Frost meets Jack Skellington on Halloween. What will happen when the Guardians need Jack Skellington's help to defeat the Boogie Man? OneShot. The rest of the story is up to your imagination.


It was Halloween night, and Jack decided to bring an early autumn frost that year to Burgess and visit his friend Jamie. He flew down into Burgess as the sun was setting, watching as the first children emerged onto the streets in their costumes, and spotting the many twinkling lights of jack-o-lanterns that lined the streets.

When he flew down to Jamie's window, he found the boy wearing, to his surprise, a blue hoodie that was too big for him, while his mother held a spray can of white stuff that she was spraying over the boy's hair and clothes. Jack watched through the window and chuckled. Jamie's mother put down the spray can after she had sprayed the boy's hair completely white.

"There," Jack heard her say. "Now you look nice and frosty. Now remember, be home before midnight. Don't get into any trouble – no egging houses, or hunting down monsters or witches or ghosts."

She gave a knowing smile at Jamie, who only sighed. "But Mom, it's the one night of the year when all the spirits are out! I could _see _a ghost! Or a witch! If you would just let me borrow the camera, I could prove-"

"Maybe when you're older," his mother said. "Sophie, come here!" Jamie's little sister Sophie ran into the room dressed in a rainbow fairy outfit and fairy wings, holding a magic wand with a large plastic tooth at the end. Jack smiled through the window: the tooth fairy.

"Now stand together!" Jamie's mother said, holding up her camera. Jamie threw an arm around his little sister as their mother took a photo. Jack smiled widely in the window behind him, wondering if anyone would spot him in the picture later.

The doorbell rang just then. "First ones of the night!" Jamie's mother said, putting down her camera. She walked out of the room, grabbing a bowl of candy as she went.

Once she was safely out of sight, Jack pushed the window open and hopped down into Jamie's room.

"Jack!" Jamie cried in delight, finally noticing him. "You're here! Are you coming trick-or-treating with us? Do you like my costume?" He held up his arms to show off, the sleeves of the oversized blue hoodie falling down over his hands.

"And what exactly are you supposed to be?' Jack said with a smirk, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed.

"I'm you!" Jamie laughed.

"Oh, I see," Jack said, pretending to see it for the first time. "Well in that case, you'll need this…" He reached out the window and tore a twisted-looking branch off the tree, then handed it over to Jamie. "You can't cause mischief without your staff."

"Thanks, Jack!" Jamie said, taking the stick and comparing it to Jack's staff.

Jack couldn't help but smile; he wouldn't admit it, but he was really touched that the younger boy would dress as him for Halloween. And the Tooth Fairy would absolutely love to see Sophie in her costume right now.

"Come on, Jack!" Jamie grabbed Jack's hand and started tugging him toward the door. In his other hand he grabbed the handle of his plastic pumpkin, to collect candy in. Sophie followed them, laughing delightedly and clutching her own candy sack.

Jamie's mother was handing out candy to some children at the front door. As Jamie, Jack, and Sophie passed her, she waved at them absent-mindedly, of course not noticing Jack. "Be careful!" she called to them as they ran out the door.

Jack strolled along down the street as Jamie and Sophie skipped ahead of him. "I'm so glad you came, Jack!" Jamie said to him. "Now you can help me find a witch! Or a ghost!"

"Too scary," Sophie said with a frown.

"But Sophie," Jamie protested. "Tonight is the one night of the year when the ghosts and the witches and all the spirits come out! Tonight is the one night of the year you can _see_ them!"

Jack was almost too distracted to hear what Jamie was saying; he was distracted by the fact that all the people passing on the street seemed to be looking at him. Not staring at him, or anything. It's just that their eyes glanced over him and smiled a little, like they did with everyone else. People were looking at him as if he was just another trick-or-treater on the street. And not just the small children who could already see him – the teenagers too, who usually didn't believe in him, and once in a while even an adult.

Surely he was just imagining it. But then a teenage girl in a witch's dress stopped briefly, looked straight at him, and said, "Nice costume!"

The girl passed on, but Jack froze in his steps. "They can see me!" he said excitedly. "They can all see me!" he said to Jamie.

"Well of course," Jamie laughed. "I just explained, Jack! Tonight is the one night of the year when everyone can see spirits."

Jack thought about it, and then it made sense. People had always noticed him more on All Hallow's Eve. Tonight was the first night he had gone trick-or-treating, though. Tonight he could pass as just another kid in a costume.

Excited, he followed Jamie and Sophie from house to house, stealing pieces of their candy and occasionally causing some mischief. When nobody answered the door, he covered the door in icicles, and when other kids butted ahead of them or acted stupid, he iced the road so that they slipped and fell down.

"Good one, Jack," Jamie laughed, as some kids slipped and fell into a heap on the street.

"I know, right-" Jack started to say, but froze as a young girl's scream split the air. He turned around quickly and saw the girl with a terrified scream on her face, looking up at a dark figure who had presumable scared her; then the girl fell into laughter as the dark figure leaped away. It took several bounds down the street, shouting "BOO!" as it went. Children fell away screaming, then fell into fits of laughter as the figure passed. Finally the figure disappeared down an alleyway.

"Wow, someone scared them good," Jamie said.

"Who was that?" Jack asked quietly, staring off into the shadows where the figure had disappeared.

"Probably just some teenager. They like scaring the younger kids."

Jack didn't think that was it though. "Go on without me," he said to Jamie and Sophie. "I'll catch up with you later." Gripping his staff in one hand, he leaped down the street, leaving Jamie and Sophie behind, and turned down an alleyway. He peered down the empty alley and saw the dark figure again – tall, thin, and very fast. It passed quickly down the end of the alley and disappeared behind a house. Jack took giant flying leaps down the alley and quickly turned the corner, on the figure's trail. He saw the long leg of the figure disappear behind another house. He rounded the corner of the house quickly, gripping his staff, and leaped out under a streetlight. The figure was standing there, caught, under the bright light.

Jack stared, aiming his staff at the figure defensively. He didn't understand what he was seeing. The figure was a tall, thin skeleton, with empty sockets instead of eyes, with a wide skeleton grin – though at the moment, he was wearing a face that looked as surprised as Jack's own. The skeleton was wearing a dark suit with a bat for a bowtie, and he held his long skinny white fingers to his mouth thoughtfully as he examined the winter spirit.

"Interesting costume," the skeleton said, circling around the boy. "But what are you?" he asked curiously. Though his face was only a skull, it was just as expressive as a living face. "Oh I know!" he said, holding up a long skinny finger in triumph. "You're a ghost! A ghost of someone who froze to death!"

The boy flinched at the skeleton's words and held up his staff. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"No, wait!" the skeleton said excitedly. "I see now! It's no costume at all. You really _are_ the ghost of a boy who froze to death!"

"I said, Who are you?" Jack said angrily, aiming his staff at the skeleton's head. "Why are you scaring those children?"

"Oh, I beg your pardon!" the skeleton said politely. He bowed low to the boy. "I am Skeleton Jack, the Pumpkin King! The King of Halloween, at your service."

"The Pumpkin King?" the boy repeated. "You're the Great Pumpkin," he said in awe, staring up at the skull. "Like in Jamie's story. He was right; you are real."

"Of course I am!" the skeleton said. "And I go by many names - the Great Pumpkin, the Pumpkin King, Jack 0. Lantern, Mr. Unlucky – but you may call me by my real name, Jack Skellington. Just Jack is enough." He held out his bony fingers to shake the boy's hand.

The boy stared at the hand a moment, then lowered his staff and took it, shaking it cautiously. "My name's Jack too. Jack Frost."

"Jack Frost!" the skeleton said excitedly. "Oh, what a pleasant surprise to meet another Jack. But not just any Jack! You are the Jack that brings the autumn frost! Who turns the leaves to red and orange and brown! My holiday could not arrive in all its spooky splendor, if not for your help."

"Halloween is your holiday?" the winter spirit asked curiously.

"Why yes! I am from Halloween Town, where we spend the whole year preparing for next Halloween! We work hard so that we may deliver Halloween to all the boys and girls. We do our very best to find new ways to frighten them."

"You scare children… like Pitch?" Jack Frost raised his staff again. "Are you in league with the Boogie Man?"

"Oogie Boogie?" Skeleton Jack cried in shock. "Of course not! He does have his lair beneath Halloween Town, but I do my best to keep him in line. The Boogie Man believes in frightening children with nightmares, but he goes too far." He shook his skull in disapproval. "No, I believe in good spooky fun! The kind of scare that leaves one' s blood rushing and heart beating fast! The kind that leaves you laughing afterwards. After all, life's no fun without a good scare!"

Jack nodded in grudging agreement. "Now fun I understand. I'm the Guardian of Fun."

"And I am the Guardian of Fright!" the skeleton replied excitedly. "Only good spooky fun frights of course! Why, fun and fright go hand in hand! Perhaps it's no coincidence we're both named Jack."

"Yeah… Wait, you're a Guardian?" Jack asked in surprise.

"Indeed! I protect fright in children. It sounds most horrible, I know – but children need a good fright every now and then, to learn to be courageous and brave." He raised a bony hand in the air, looking up at the moon. "When they go out trick-or-treating, I deliver them good frights. Halloween is their night to test their courage, and I help them. Halloween is my holiday, and I protect the children on this night."

"Why didn't North ever mention you?" Jack Frost asked suspiciously.

"You mean Sandy Claws?" said Skeleton Jack. "The man in red! Oh yes, he and I have met…" He wrung his bony hands together and looked bashful. "You see, one Christmas, many years ago, I kidnapped Sandy Claws and tried to take over his holiday."

"You kidnapped Santa Claus?" the boy repeated dumbfounded.

"Indeed." The skeleton rubbed the back of his neck. "It didn't turn out well. I didn't mean any harm, but then Oogie Boogie got involved. He held Sandy Claws captive."

"Pitch kidnapped North?" Jack's eyes narrowed in anger. "That means Pitch almost ruined Christmas!"

"But I rescued Sandy Claws," the skeleton continued, "and he managed to set things right. Christmas was saved in the nick of time! We made amends with each other, and that was many years ago, but I'm afraid he might always hold a small grudge against me for that year."

"So that's why he failed to mention you," Jack Frost said, with a knowing smirk on his face.

"Yes, I'm afraid he does not wish to involve me with the other Guardians, lest I get… a bit too excited, and try to steal yet another holiday."

Jack Frost laughed. "You seem like a really fun guy," he said. "Do me a favor, and deliver a good scared to Jamie Bennett."

"I certainly will! I am the Master of Fright!" Skeleton Jack pulled on his widest, scariest grin. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Jack!"

The boy nodded. "Likewise, Jack."

"Now, if you'll excuse me, the children are in need of a scare!" The skeleton leapt off into the night, and in the distance Jack Frost soon heard the sounds of children's screams and laughter ringing through the air. Jack Frost liked Halloween; it was a fun holiday, after all, and he decided he liked the other Jack too.

...

ONE YEAR LATER

North had called an emergency meeting of the Guardians at the North Pole. The Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny, Sandman, Santa Claus, and Jack Frost stood around the globe, where millions of little lights shone brightly.

"Tonight is Halloween," North explained to the others, "and Pitch Black is planning something tonight. We have to stop him."

"He just never gives up, does he?" Jack said, swinging his staff.

"Pitch is stronger on Halloween," Bunny spoke up. "The children are scared. He feeds off it. It will be hard to fight him tonight."

"That is why we're going to need help," North said, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

"Help? From who?" Tooth asked, her wings buzzing excitedly.

"Jack," North said with a slight smile.

Jack Frost looked up. "Huh?"

North spun around to face them all. "The _other _Jack. The King of Halloween."

The room seemed to explode in tumult.

"Jack Skellington?" Tooth gasped, holding her hands to her mouth. "The Guardian of Halloween?"

Not him!" Bunny shouted. "Not that holiday-stealer! You remember what a mess he almost made of Christmas, mate! What if he goes after Easter next? I don't want him here!"

"Jack Skellington is a Guardian like the rest of us," North argued. "It's time we teamed up with him. Besides, he has experience fighting the Boogie Man. He rescued me from Pitch."

"But he was the one who had you kidnapped to begin with," Bunny retorted.

"He's learned his lesson," North went on. "I visit him occasionally. His wife Sally has talked some sense into him."

"I met him last Halloween," Jack spoke up. "He seemed trustworthy to me."

"Good," North said. "Then you, Jack, will go to Halloween Town and tell Jack Skellington that we need his help. Tell him he has been summoned by his fellow Guardians."

Jack gripped his staff and nodded in understanding.

"We need Jack Skellinton's help to defeat the Boogie Man," North said resolutely. "It's time _all _the Guardians came together."

Jack Frost swung his staff and leaped into the air. "See you guys later," he called down to the others. "I'm off to Halloween Town."

...

Thank you for reading! The rest of the story is up to your imagination.


End file.
